The career hits leader generally is not allowed in any areas of major league ballparks not open to fans. But the former Reds star was allowed to participate in baseball's All-Century team ceremony at Atlanta's Turner Field during the 1999 World Series and was permitted to be on the field at Great American Ballpark in 2010 for a ceremony commemorating the 25th anniversary of his record-setting 4,192nd hit.

He also was on the field in Cincinnati last September for the unveiling of a bronze sculpture honoring Hall of Fame teammate Joe Morgan. The Reds host the 2015 All-Star game on July 14, and Commissioner Bud Selig left open the possibility Rose could play a part.

"That will be up to the Cincinnati club, and they know what they can do and can't do," Selig told the Baseball Writers' Association of America on Tuesday. "It's sort of been subjective. But they've done some things with Pete, but they've been very, very thoughtful and limited. But that's a subject that I'm sure they'll discuss in the next year."

Rose, who famously bowled over catcher Ray Fosse to win the 1970 All-Star game at Cincinnati's Riverfront Stadium, agreed to the lifetime ban in August 1989 following an investigation by Major League Baseball that concluded he bet on the Reds to win while managing the team. He applied for reinstatement in September 1997 and met with Selig in November 2002.

Selig, who plans to retire in January, has never ruled on Rose's application.

"It's under advisement. My standard line," Selig said. "I'm the judge and that's where it will stay. Nothing new in that statement, I understand."

Now 73, Rose admitted in a 2004 autobiography that his previous gambling denials were false.

Last month, he managed the Bridgeport Bluefish for one game in the independent Atlantic League.

Players may considertobacco ban in 2016

Major League Baseball players say they may consider whether to discuss a possible ban on chewing tobacco when they negotiate their next labor contract in two years. For now, they hope individuals decide on their own to stop dipping.

Players' union head Tony Clark said Monday that several of his members have quit cold turkey following the death of Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn on June 16 from oral cancer.

While the use of smokeless tobacco was banned for players with minor league contracts in 1993, it is permitted for players with major league deals. The labor agreement covering 2012-16 says players may not carry tobacco packages and tins in their back pockets when fans are permitted in ballparks, and they may not use tobacco during interviews and at team functions.

"I think what we have been doing thus far has been a positive, and although I'm not going to offer you a bargaining proposal today on chewing tobacco, we could have that conversation," Clark said.

"Then we will see where the guys are and continue the education and their appreciation for or against, or what the many considerations that need to be made in the area even look like, and we'll have that conversation with Major League Baseball," he said.

Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig, who plans to retire in January, promised "it will be a subject that they'll discuss at the next collective bargaining" but acknowledged "I understand that individuals have the right to make their own decisions."

Gwynn, 54 at his death, attributed his cancer to years of chewing tobacco.

Selig: MLB didn't knowA-Rod had drug exemption

Selig maintains Major League Baseball had no idea Alex Rodriguez received a medical exemption from the sport's drug administrator to use a testosterone-boosting substance in 2007.

Rodriguez received a therapeutic use exemption for the otherwise-banned substance clomid, according to the book "Blood Sport: Alex Rodriguez, Biogenesis and the Quest to End Baseball's Steroid Era," which was published last week.

Clomid is prescribed for ovulation induction and has been used by men to restore the production of testosterone following a steroids cycle. The book said the exemption was granted by Bryan W. Smith, then the independent administrator of baseball's drug program.

"We did not know about it at the time," Selig said. "These independent people made a judgment. History proved them I guess it turned out to be somewhat wrong, but they were outstanding doctors."